


"I have a plan."

by emsylcatac



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien - Freeform, Borderline crack, Fluff and Humor, IDENTITY SHENANIGANS, Identity Reveal, Rena Rouge, mutlimouse, they're all dumb in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:20:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28415283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emsylcatac/pseuds/emsylcatac
Summary: Marinette probably should have thought twice before joining the fight as Multimouse instead of Ladybug.Alya, suited up as Rena Rouge, wished she knew where on earth Ladybug and Chat Noir were when they needed them.And Adrien really,reallywished the two heroines would just leave him alone so he could transform.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 63
Kudos: 350





	"I have a plan."

**Author's Note:**

  * For [UltraKart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UltraKart/gifts), [Lady3ellewrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady3ellewrites/gifts).



> Written following a silly series of posts on tumblr [that you can find here!](https://emsylcatac.tumblr.com/post/638879395550003201/masilvi-emsylcatac-hannahyonana)
> 
> Thanks to ultrakart, 2manyfandoms2count and lunadensmidnightprowl for your additions, and hannahyonana for the amazing comic you did for this!! ♥ it was super fun!!!

“Hey, there! You looking for me?” Adrien shouted, standing in plain sight in front of the akuma who looked at him with wide eyes—a clear mix of surprise as to why his target was stupid enough to show up in front of him, and delight at the fact that _his target was stupid enough to show up in front of him._

Marinette really couldn’t blame the akuma. She loved Adrien and she admired his bravery, really, but he was not the hero here.

 _“For fox’ sake,”_ Alya muttered under her breath. “Can’t he stay put and do what he’s told for _five seconds?!”_

“I’m bringing him back,” Marinette said.

She undid her skipping rope belt, and used it as a lasso to catch Adrien and bring him back to their hiding place. He landed in her arms with a shriek.

Marinette didn’t have time to admire his gorgeous, surprised _(stupid!)_ face as Alya just grabbed her arm and sprinted to a nearby street.

“Okay, now we gotta go hide somewhere else,” Alya shouted. “Great job, Mister Model, that was spectacularly stupid and reckless!”

“Sorry,” Adrien mumbled. “But it was the perfect opening for you to creep up on him and—”

“Over there!” Marinette cut him, pointing with a shake of her head at what was probably a rooftop garden hidden behind fences.

They jumped in and waited for any sign indicating the akuma had followed them.

“I think we lost him,” she whispered.

“Thank you, Ma— _Mademoiselle_ Multimouse,” Adrien said with a small smile.

He was _so_ polite. Who else would call her _Mademoiselle_ if not Adrien?

 _“Please,”_ Alya rolled her eyes, “spare us the flattery after what you’ve just pulled. Ladybug and Chat Noir aren’t here yet— _well,_ Ladybug was but she left for some very convenient ‘secret mission’— so if something happens to _you,_ it’s on _me._ Understood?”

Adrien shrunk on himself and nodded vigorously. Marinette felt a little bad for him.

“But, um… Maybe you could leave me here and go after the akuma? My friend, Nino…he’s over there and could be in danger and—”

“—and the akuma isn’t after your friend Nino but after _you,”_ Alya cut, Marinette nodding along.

“Oh really?” Adrien said with a nervous smile. “Because I was _sure_ that—”

“ADRIEN AGRESTE.” All three of them flinched; the akuma sounded far enough, but he was still pretty loud, “I don’t know where you think you’re hiding, but I _will_ find you and I _will_ turn you into the pathetic robot you are!”

 _“Right,”_ Alya whispered harshly. “After _Nino.”_

“He just said Nino Lahiffe,” Adrien pointed.

Marinette blinked.

“He did?” she asked. That wasn’t what she had heard but surely Adrien had a correct hearing too.

Alya snorted. “No.”

Adrien looked at Marinette with a pleading face, as if he knew her and knew she could pull him out of his misery.

“Well, to be fair,” she started slowly, “‘Nino Lahiffe’ and ‘Adrien Agreste’ do sound quite similar…”

Adrien was nodding alongside her nonsensical excuse enthusiastically.

Why was he being so stupid today? So brainless?

He gave her a grateful and oh so very soft smile.

_So loveable._

She smiled back at him, trying not to melt on the spot. He grinned and gave her thumbs up that she returned with a giggle.

“...I don’t remember Ladybug giving you a miraculous so you could flirt with the civilians we save, Multimouse.”

Marinette choked. “I’m not...that’s not—he is… Friend! He is a friend! I mean— a _friendly_ civilian. Nothing more!”

Adrien blinked. Alya raised a brow.

“A-anyway, I think we should get back to the akuma, shouldn’t we?”

Alay sighed. “That we should.” She peered through a crack in the fence.

“You really think of me as a friend?” Adrien whispered to her with a small smile and eyes full of wonder.

Marinette startled. “I…yes, of course.”

His smile brightened. “Thank you. I think you’re a friend too!”

She let a giddy smile stretch on her lips. She was twice Adrien’s friend now, and he had no idea!

Alya’s voice pulled her out of her momentary reverie. “And I think that Robotboy over there doesn't think of _any_ of us as his friends. It looks like he’s heading towards the Seine.”

“Let me see,” Marinette said, pushing her out of the way as Alya let out an outraged _‘hey!’._

Indeed, the akuma looked like he was advancing towards the river ; if he happened to disappear behind a building, the beams of his attacks were visible enough to give away his position.

Marinette was focused on figuring a plan out when _—BONG._

“OUCH!” she screeched, turning around and rubbing her head to see Alya with one hand on her hip and the other holding her flute. Adrien took a sharp audible intake of breath, his face contorting in a pained one as if he knew all too well what it felt like to be hit on the head with a weapon. “What was _that_ for?!”

“You pushing me out of the way without warning, duh!” Alya retorted.

“That’s not a reason to hit me on the head!”

“It is, because now we’ve gotta plan and—oh god, okay, I’m cool, I’m cool, _I’m cool,_ I can do this… Okay this is kind of exciting but also scary, I’ve never had to come up with the plan for the akuma _myself_ without Ladybug.”

“I may have one—” Marinette tried to interject.

“Okay, but if he goes to the Seine, there’s a risk for us to fall in it, and it can complicate things. And we especially don’t want Mister famous over there to drown, so—”

“—You could always leave me here and go do your things, I don’t min—”

“NO, certainly not!” Marinette and Alya both snapped.

“But I would only slow you down!”

“And we can’t leave you here on a roof with no escape,” Marinette said.

“Especially since last time you were on a roof during an akuma attack, you jumped for all national TV to see,” Alya scolded.

Well, Marinette knew he had only jumped because she had asked him to but…she would rather forget that moment forever, thank you very much. Adrien looked disheartened at that and dare she say, annoyed. She swore he had rolled his eyes just now.

“So,” Alya carried on. “The plan. As I was saying—”

“Rena Rouge, I think I—”

“—we need to be careful of the water. Having Multimouse sneaking up on him once divided can be an advantage, but then again with Adrien to protect—and no, you _can’t_ stay here, don’t you say anything this time—it might be hard. What we can do—”

“Rena,” Marinette tried louder, “I have an—”

“—is using an illusion of Adrien to attract him further from the Seine. Then maybe—”

“ALYA!” she shouted, hoping that this time, _this time_ her friend would hear her and let her share her plan—a plan that geniously involved her slipping away just so she could come back as Ladybug.

It seemed that she had been loud enough because Alya suddenly stopped talking and looked at her with wide eyes. Adrien’s eyes weren’t looking far better, but she didn’t have much time to dwell on it.

“I think that I know what we should do,” she continued. “Your plan of luring the akuma with mirage is really good, but we also need to hide Adrien with one. We could for instance—”

“What did you say…?” Alya interrupted her quietly.

“I said that we needed to hide Adrien with mirage too and—”

“No, no,” she cut her again. “Before that.”

Marinette frowned and tried to recall what exactly ticked her off. “Uh, I…”

“You called me Alya.”

She blinked. “Yes? What’s wrong with that?”

“I’m Rena Rouge.”

Oh.

 _“Oh._ Oh no.”

“You’re _Alya?!”_ Adrien asked.

Way to give away one of the hero’s names. She had to find a way to fix this. She could do it. She really could. She just had to—

“How did you know who I was?” Alya wondered, ignoring Adrien. _There went her chance at salvaging things._ “The only persons who do are Carapace and… _Ladybug?!”_

“I…”

 _“Oh my god._ Oh my god that’s it, isn’t it? You’re Ladybug. Oh, that explains so much! That’s why you were gone!”

This was bad. She looked from Alya’s look of wonder to Adrien’s gaping and incredulous face. Why he was so surprised about this turn of events was beyond her, but Alya sounded so sure of herself that there was no way out of this one.

“Yes,” she cut her rambling. “Okay, you figured it out. _Yes,_ it’s me. But no one must know, understood?”

Alya nodded seriously. “Of course, you can trust me! This is so cool though, how many other disguises do you have? Does _Chat Noir_ know?”

“No, he doesn’t, which is why it’s very important that _none of you_ say _anything._ To anyone. Ever.”

Alya was jumping and vibrating excitedly. Marinette turned to Adrien to make sure he had understood to see a very thoughtful look on his face.

“You can’t be Ladybug,” he said in a calm voice. “You’re Marinette.”

Oh he had _got_ to be kidding her. _“What?”_

“WHAT?”

“Yes, I saw you both together—I mean, you can’t be both or—”

“When did you see both of us together?” Marinette asked urgently, voice trembling.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, I…”

“Hold on, he’s _right?!_ You’re also _Marinette?_ As in, my _best friend?”_ Alya said incredulously. “What’s going on?”

She sure as hell didn’t know and she would very much like to before things escalated further than they already had.

She cut Alya from rambling further with a sign of the hand. “Were you around here the first time I used the mouse miraculous? Only Chat Noir saw me!”

“So that means he’s right?” Alya went on. “You’re Marinette? Giiiiiiirl!” she elbowed her appreciatively.

“I didn’t say that! Not yet!” she hissed, making Alya giggle excitedly. She probably hadn’t been convincing enough. “Adrien why do you… Did you see me?! I can’t remember that there was anyone else other than Chat Noir!”

Adrien was looking anywhere but at her. “I mean, what I mean is… I mean that…”

 _“No way,”_ Alya breathed. “Adrien, are you _Chat Noir?!”_

“Oh come on Alya, don’t be ridiculous! Right Adri… A-Adrien? _Right??”_

The boy in question was looking anywhere but at them, and was very nervously playing with the ring on his fourth finger on his right hand.

The ring. On the fourth finger. _Of his right hand._

For the love of—

“No,” he said with a tight smile. “I’m not. And I didn’t see anything, you’re… you’re not Marinette, and I’m not Adrien _—I mean,_ I’m not _Chat Noir—_ and we’re both nothing and this is _great,_ don’t you think?”

Alya sniggered. “That’s awesome because I’m not Alya.”

“See? No one is anyone, all secret identities are still secrets and… My Lady—I mean, _little mouse_ — are you still breathing?”

If she had been breathing, she was now very much Not. Because despite the crazy idea of wanting to believe him when he said that he was not Chat Noir, him calling her ‘my Lady’ was compromising it heavily.

And this coming from _Adrien’s_ mouth was way too much to handle.

“I think she’s not breathing,” Alya whispered to him.

“AKUMA!” Marinette shouted suddenly. “We need to—we have to—the akuma. Down. Going there.”

Alya and Adrien both blinked, but she didn’t let them the time to express their lack of understanding by grabbing Adrien and leaping down the street. Alya followed suit and landed next to her a second after.

“Girl, what are you doing?!” she whispered. “We’re in the open now!”

She quickly glanced left and right to check for any unwanted witnesses, Adrien still in her arms. She tried to ignore the feeling of his hair tickling her cheek and the pressure of his hand around her neck. It was hard.

“Detransformation,” she murmured.

As she felt the power leave her body, she realised that she really should have thought this through as Adrien’s weight suddenly came crashing on her and they both fell on the pavement with a screech.

Alya cackled loudly. “Oh how I wished I wasn’t transformed right now so I could snap a picture.”

Marinette groaned. “Come and help us up instead of making fun of us, will you?”

She pushed herself up when it was clear that Alya was too busy laughing. She turned to Adrien to help him up and was struck by the look of wonder and adoration he was giving her.

It wasn’t something she’d deal with today. Maybe not even tomorrow. She would have to freak out first—not that she wasn’t now. But it filled her chest with warmth nonetheless amidst all the confusing and euphoric feelings seeping through her as she took both his hands in hers and pulled him up.

They both lingered there, lost into each other’s eyes, trying to understand and rediscover one another when they were interrupted by Alya loudly clearing her throat.

“Are you gonna stand there all day being in love or are we finally going to kick Mr Roboto’s butt?”

Marinette startled. “Yes. Akuma. That’s why we’re here. Let’s—let’s go in that alley over there and uh. Transform. That’s what we do. In the face of danger and—”

“Marinette?” Alya asked.

“Yes?”

“Let’s go.”

“Yes. Going,” she very smoothly replied and marched in the direction of the small alley she had noticed, Alya and Adrien following close behind.

“So,” Adrien whispered once they were secluded enough, “what’s the plan, Souricette?”

Marinette blinked. She had learned to not question Chat Noir’s nicknames for her.

She felt her cheeks heat up; she had to learn to not question them from Adrien now.

Alya cooed next to her. “This is such a cute nickname! I’m calling you that too from now on!”

“No,” Marinette snapped, “certainly not!”

Both Alya and Adrien looked at each other with a knowing smirk. She hated them.

“Whatever you say, Souricette,” Alya said as Adrien ruffled her hair, giggling.

_She absolutely adored them._

“A-and anyway,” she stuttered, “stop it, we have an akuma to catch. Let’s get serious. We’ll transform, make an illusion of Adrien to attract the akuma away from the Seine, and see how we go from here.”

“I’m waaaaiting,” Alya yawned, “I’ve been transformed for forever hoping for Ladybug and Chat Noir to show up. So chop chop, do your thing!”

Adrien and her nodded and both called for their transformations.

Oh god, Adrien really was Chat Noir now, wasn’t he? Now was not the time to faint but she really wished it was.

“I still can’t believe you’ve been there this whole time and that we’ve been running in circles since the start of this fight,” Alya shook her head.

“W-well, I mean, now you know why I _really_ wanted for you two to leave me alone,” Adrien crossed his arms.

Marinette sighed, trying to think about the task at hand or she’d have a headache thinking about everything else. “Let’s just get the akuma once and for all,” she said, stepping out of the alley, Alya and Adrien on her toes.

 _“Dudes!”_ someone greeted as soon as they came out.

They turned their head to see Nino running towards them, wide eyes and camera in hand.

“Nino?” Alya blinked.

“I just—I was...I was following you guys to take pictures of the fight and saw you,” he said, pointing at Alya, “Marinette and Adrien hiding in that little street. And now, I see you, _Ladybug_ and _Chat Noir_ coming out of it.”

Oh this had to be a prank. There was no way this was happening again.

There was a long silence as Nino looked at them three, eyes sweeping from one to another.

Adrien was the first one to speak. “Rena Rouge was totally hiding them and now they’re totally safe and totally in that alley other ther—”

_“DUUUUDES.”_

**Author's Note:**

> *The nickname "Souricette" is kind of the equivalent of "Buguinette" (Bugaboo in English), "souris" meaning "mouse" in French ;)


End file.
